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The 1000 Calorie Diet

Canada's Food Guide (CFG), published by Health Canada, suggests a daily calorie intake for an adult woman to range between 1900 and 2350 calories per day. The range suggested for an adult male is slightly higher at between 2500 and 3000 calories per day. A range of daily caloric needs was adopted to allow for individual circumstances. Factors that contribute to the number of calories a person needs include: our current body weight, our current activity levels, our bone structure and genetics. The presence of a medical condition may also affect the number of calories we should have per day.

I am not a nutritionist or other medical practitioner, nor a mathematician but immediately I see a great discrepancy between Canada's Food Guide recommendations and the suggestion of a 1000 calorie a day diet. Such a diet would essentially cut guidelines from a reputable source almost by half.

With this thought in mind, I proceed with caution and would urge anyone considering such a diet to proceed with extreme caution as well. Before starting any new diet or exercise program one should always consult their own medical professional.

WHAT IS A HEALTHY WEIGHT

In Canada and the United States, dietitians and nutritionists use a formula that takes your weight and your height into account to determine if you are at a healthy weight for you. This formula is called your Body Mass Index (BMI). The formula for calculating your BMI is your weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared or the equation (BMI = kg/m2). If you are now lost and confused at the math don't worry there are many BMI calculators out there to do it for you all you have to do is put in your height and weight. Keep in mind the unit of measurement being used. Canada uses the Metric system and the United States uses the Imperial system.

So, now you have a number, which is your BMI, what does that number mean?

Below 18 you are considered underweight
19 24 you are considered to be at an ideal weight
25 30 you are considered overweight
30 39 you are considered obese
40+ you are considered morbidly obese

Please note that these are general guidelines and you may find slight variations in these categories for example some calculators consider a BMI of 17 to be underweight and 18 to be ideal. Also, be aware the BMI calculation does NOT take into account such things as your muscle to fat ratio. Thus, a bodybuilder who is very muscular may have a BMI that shows them to be overweight or obese.

WHAT WOULD A

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